Newell Brands, Inc.’s Outdoor & Recreation segment, which includes Marmot, Ex Officio, Stearns, Bubba, Coleman, and Contigo, among others, reported a smaller loss in the fourth quarter with sales declining 6.6 percent.

The segment generated net sales of $142 million, compared with $152 million in the prior-year period, reflecting a core sales decline of 6.2 percent, as well as the impact of favorable foreign exchange. Operating loss was $20 million, or negative 14.1 percent of sales, compared with $34 million, or negative 22.4 percent of sales, in the prior year period. Normalized operating loss was $12 million, or negative 8.5 percent of sales, compared with $28 million, or negative 18.4 percent of sales, in the prior year period.

The core sales decline of 6.2 percent came after the segment had shown signs of stabilization in the third quarter, when core sales were down 0.9 percent.

For the year, sales in the Outdoor & Recreation segment slid 6.7 percent to $741 million from $794 million a year ago. The reported segment operating loss was $25 million, down from a loss of $86 million in the prior year. Normalized operating earnings were breakeven against a loss of $53 million a year ago.

Newell also operates segments for Home & Commercial Solutions and Learning & Development. Other owned brands include Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, Expo, Elmer’s, Oster, Nuk, Spontex, and Campingaz.

Newell’s Fourth Quarter Operating Results
Companywide, net sales in the quarter were $1.9 billion, a 2.7 percent decline from the prior-year period, reflecting a core sales decline of 4.1 percent and favorable foreign exchange. Guidance had called for core sales to decline by 3.0 percent to 5.0 percent.

Gross margin was 33.1 percent, compared with 34.2 percent in the prior-year period, with the positive impact from gross productivity and pricing more than offset by headwinds from tariff costs and inflation. Normalized gross margin was 33.9 percent compared with 34.6 percent in the prior year period.

Operating loss was $272 million, or negative 14.3 percent of sales, compared with operating income of $9 million, or 0.5 percent of sales, in the prior year period. Non-cash impairment charges of $340 million and $85 million were incurred in the current and prior year periods, respectively, related to indefinite-lived tradenames. Normalized operating income was $165 million, or 8.7 percent of sales, compared with $139 million, or 7.1 percent of sales, in the prior year period. Normalized results in the current period reflect benefits from restructuring and productivity actions and lower incentive compensation expense, partially offset by higher advertising and promotion spend.

Net interest expense was $84 million compared with $72 million in the prior year period.

Income tax benefit was $44 million compared with $25 million in the prior year period. The normalized income tax provision was $2 million compared with a normalized tax benefit of $4 million in the prior year period.

Net loss was $315 million compared with $54 million in the prior year period. Normalized net income was $75 million compared with $69 million in the prior year period. Normalized EBITDA increased 11.6 percent to $241 million compared with $216 million in the prior year period.

Diluted loss per share was 75 cents compared with $0.13 from the prior year period. Normalized diluted EPS was 18 cents compared with 16 cents in the prior year period. Guidance had called for a normalized loss in the range of 16 cents to 20 cents.

Newell’s Full Year 2025 Operating Results
Net sales for the full year ended December 31, 2025, were $7.2 billion, a 5.0 percent decline from the prior year, reflecting a core sales decrease of 4.6 percent.

Operating income was $39 million, or 0.5 percent of sales, compared with $67 million, or 0.9 percent of sales, in the prior year. Non-cash impairment charges of $340 million and $345 million related to indefinite-lived trade names were incurred in the current and prior year, respectively. Normalized operating income was $606 million, or 8.4 percent of sales, compared with $618 million, or 8.2 percent of sales, in the prior year.

Net loss was $285 million compared with $216 million in the prior year. Normalized net income was $240 million compared with $286 million in the prior year. Normalized EBITDA was $882 million compared with $900 million in the prior year. Diluted loss per share was 68 cents compared with 52 cents in the prior year. Normalized diluted EPS was 57 cents compared with 68 cents in the prior year.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
Full-year operating cash flow was $264 million compared with $496 million in the prior year period. The current year’s operating cash flow was impacted by $174 million of cash tariff costs and a substantially higher cash bonus payout in 2025 related to strong business results in 2024.

During the fourth quarter, the company repaid the outstanding principal amount of its 3.9 percent senior notes due 2025, plus accrued and unpaid interest upon maturity. At the end of 2025, Newell Brands had debt outstanding of $4.7 billion and cash and cash equivalents of $203 million, compared with $4.6 billion and $198 million, respectively, at the end of the prior year.

Outlook
The company’s 2026 outlook reflects expectations of a step-up in core sales growth, driven by a stronger innovation pipeline, net distribution gains, and higher A&P spending. Additionally, the outlook reflects continued focus on margin improvement and stronger year-over-year operating cash flow generation.

The company initiated its outlook for the first quarter and the full year 2026. The first quarter 2026 core sales, the company’s seasonally smallest quarter, are expected to be negatively impacted by shipment timing dynamics rather than underlying consumer demand, including the timing of shelf resets and associated innovation shipments, as well as lapping a prior-year period that included tariff-related ordering and timing dynamics.

Included in the full-year 2026 outlook is the annualized impact of tariffs enacted in 2025. While the company expects lower cash tariff payments in 2026 compared to 2025, the gross profit impact reflects a higher full-year annualized run rate, prior to mitigating actions in 2026, partially offset by productivity actions, targeted pricing and tariff-related business wins. Prior to mitigating actions, this annualized tariff impact is expected to create an incremental headwind of approximately 7 cents a share to normalized EPS compared to 2025.

Image courtesy Newell Brands/Marmot